Well, it's most definitely that time of year. It will be 2009 in less that 5 and a half hours. What a frightening prospect. I remember when it being the year 2000 was a big deal. Not anymore, really. 2000 does not seem any more special than 2008 at this point. I wanted to take this time to reflect on 2008: things that have happened, things that I've noticed, and whatever else I feel like mentioning.
It's been a big year. The obvious things to note are the first female Republican nominee for the Vice Presidency, the first African American Presidential nominee, and the first African American President-elect. Well, I guess those are the obvious things in terms of the political sphere. But the 2008 election isn't over. Minnesota still hasn't figured out who it's new Senator is going to be. And Illinois and New York are missing Senators now, too. But 2008 has been an important year elsewhere in the world in terms of politics. If I've learned anything from politics this year it is that too much time and money is spent on American political elections when elections around the world are being ignored. How many Americans do you think can tell you about the French Socialist Party elections, the failure of the Israeli parliament to form a governing coalition, or about any other major election in a foreign country? How many do you think even know about the governmental crisis Canada is experiencing right now? Probably not many. Americans are close-minded, self-centered, and need to turn their eyes to the world, rather than within. Granted, that's not to say there aren't still problems here that need to be solved. I'm just saying that Americans should be more aware of what's going on in the world. This brings me to my first resolution for 2009:
Resolution #1: Stay informed about world events. Try to focus more attention on what's happening abroad while still noting events within the U.S.
2008 has also been an important year for me personally. I've experienced evolving friendships, expanded my academic horizons, and done countless other things. This year, especially the last several months, has been filled with drama between friends. Some has involved me, other drama has not. Frankly, I wish none of it had involved me at all, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. I'm still trying to figure out my friend relationship with a lot of people, but with whom shall not be mentioned, since I'm not entirely sure who will end up reading this. I've made several new awesome friends this year and lost several not-so-awesome friends. I've also grown apart from a lot of my friends from high school, which is understandable considering the fact that I go to school far away from them and don't care to put in a lot of effort into staying in touch when they are unwilling to return the favor. I have learned that friends are important. Without my friends this year, I don't know what I would have done. I don't know if my friends realize this, though. So this brings me to my second resolution for 2009:
Resolution #2: Let my friends know how much I appreciate them and how much they've done for me. They deserve to know how much I rely on them.
Oh, friends. Now I'm lead to talk about family. My favorite subject in the entire world. This year has seen some scary events, with Bill's dad being hospitalized twice, and with the doctors unable to find out what was wrong with him either time. He's still hanging in there, but it's scary to watch him deteriorate. It scares me to death. I'm trying to emotionally prepare myself, but I don't know how much I can do that. His death would be a devastating impact on our entire family. He's one of the most incredible people I've ever met, and I feel like I still have so much to learn from him and that there isn't enough time. This brings me to my third resolution for 2009:
Resolution #3: Take time to talk to family members and relatives who I don't spend as much time with as I should.
One of my biggest regrets after my Grandpa Bowerman (my mom's dad) died was that I didn't spend as much time with him, listen to him, or appreciate him as much as I should have. You can't change the past, but you can take charge of the present. Hence my third resolution.
Academically, I've seen steady improvement throughout this semester, though I know that I can still do better! This brings me to my fourth resolution for 2009:
Resolution #4: Continue to progress academically while devoting more time and effort to my work.
If I want a PhD in history some day, I need to get my act together. Especially if I want to go to a good school where I can learn more than I might be able to at other places. I'm going to spend a lot more time on school this year. And I'm narrowing the focus of my interest to my awesome history classes, so that should help :) I only have one more stupid general ed requirement to get rid of, so that should help. I'm also going to continue to pursue French because I really want to study French history, though I'm not opposed to learning other languages as well. There's just something about Western Europe that appeals to me. I can't explain it, but I know it's there.
Well, that's four wide-reaching resolutions for 2009. I would come up with more, but taking baby steps is more important than having a ridiculous amount of resolutions that I can't possibly spend all my time on. Hopefully I'll still be blogging a year from now and I'll be able to come back and read this and assess my progress in 2009. Sounds like a plan to me!
That's all for now. I'll finish with a quote by E.K. Freeman (1823-1892):
"History is past politics, and politics is present history."
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